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William Dethridge
'''William Dethridge', later Guglielmo Crinamorte, is the first Stravagante. He studied at Oxford from 1538-1542 and then in Bologna 1543-1546. He was trained in the scientific disciplines of mathematics, calendarism, alchemy, and astrology''City of Masks. His past times include dancing and horseback riding and he is notably very skilled in both, which he teaches to Luciano. He has a great love of horses, so he is somewhat saddened that they are forbidden in Bellezza, where he currently resides. Biography Born in the village of Barnsbury in England, William Dethridge married Johanna Andrews, though she may not have been faithfulDethridge makes a comment about how hard it is to have an unfaithful wife. They had six children, three of which died young. During his life, Dethridge was a lecturer in mathematics at Wadham College, Oxford; he retained the post until his disappearance in 1575. He was an astrologer, an acceptable practice as the reigning sovereign Elizabeth of England had her own Royal one, and was also an alchemist, which was a legal profession. Though known to be an Anglican, Dethridge was regarded with hostility for being a practitioner of the occult, such as his contemporary Dr. John Dee. When he was tried for witchcraft in 1575 and condemned to burning, there was no record of the sentence being carried out. Rumours suggested that he had powerful friends who engineered his escape to the European continent when was condemned to burn. The First Stravagante While in his laboratory in England Dethridge was attempting to make gold (doing alchemy), but instead of trying to make it from lead he was attempting to make gold from earth, salts and various minerals in a copper dish. But there was an accident and he Stravagated to university in Bellona, in the lab of the great Federico Bruno, one of Talia's great scientists and the materials in the dish had turned to gold. But when he returned to England the minerals had reverted to just earth, salts and various minerals. Dethridge later made the rule that Stravagates could not take things between the two worlds. During his stravagations, Dr. Dethridge gathered a number of loyal and trustworthy followers. His students formed the Brotherhood of Stravaganti and quietly dispersed to different city-states in Talia, entrusted with the secrets of the brotherhood and items from Dethridge's world to serve as talismans. To Talia When Dethridge was condemned for witchcraft, he was sentenced to death by burning by Elizabeth I. Fearing for his life, Dethridge made a permanent stravagation to Talia. When his body in England died, Dr. Dethridge was translated to Talia; he gained a shadow and a solid form in the alternate world. He lived in Montemurato for two years before he was found by Rodolfo Rossi and brought to live in Bellezza. He is still afraid of death by burning. In Talia, Dethridge goes by Guglielmo Crinamorte, a Talian translation of his name, and later marries the widow Leonora Gasparini. They adopt Lucien Mulholland as their foster-son after Lucien is translated to Talia. Dr. Dethridge still owns his original copper dish talisman, which he values as his most prized material possession and it has the unique property of allowing him to stravagate back to England just as it allowed him to stravagate to Talia. As Dottore Crinamorte, Dr. Dethridge is a respected scholar and well-known for his study of astronomy. In ''City of Secrets, he is invited to lecture on astronomy at the university of Padavia; while his lecture reflects the scientific understanding of a geocentric solar system during the 16th century, Dr. Dethridge confides in Luciano that he suspects the 16th century model of the universe is actually heliocentric, though he asks that Luciano does not confirm whether or not his theory is true with Luciano's scientific knowledge from the 21st century.City of Secrets Notes and References *Dr. Dethridge's Talian name is derived from the Italian form of William (Guglielmo) and the words for "death/deth" (morte) and "ridge" (crinale). Category:Characters Category:Stravaganti Category:English Character Category:Talian Character Category:Deceased Characters